Charlie Hazleton offers readers two adventures inside his wonderfully woven novel, Aree and The Holy Grail. Throughout the story of the legendary relic, its powerful secret, and the battles to keep it safe at all costs, are clues to an actual hidden treasure!
While readers will certainly enjoy the thrills of the book, they will discover 12 clues that once understood correctly will lead them to the location of a treasure. I am excited to ask Charlie Six Questions to learn more about it all! Enjoy!
Six Questions with Charlie:
- 1Q) I really enjoyed reading your book, Aree and The Holy Grail. Great story! What inspired you to write the story, and then add a treasure hunt to it as well? As the introduction says, it is two adventures! Thank you. What fun!
Let me start by saying thank you for the kind words about my book.
I am a relic collector. Not of ancient artifacts but Hollywood memorabilia. One of the interesting facts about movie memorabilia is that it didn’t begin with the introduction of motion pictures. The first collector was Debbie Reynolds in the 70’s. No one even bothered to save all of the Star Trek items which would be worth a fortune today.
Having that in mind, I watched a movie about the crucifixion of Christ and seeing the scene of the last supper got me to thinking. I couldn’t picture one of the disciples saying, I think I need to hold on to this cup. They weren’t relic hunters, so it didn’t make sense to me. But since folklore has roots in some truth, I started to think of how the Holy Grail could have been obtained. The idea I came up with is the one in my story.
- 2Q) What is your background with armchair treasure hunts? Are you familiar with those of the past, like Masquerade or the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt? Have you personally worked on other treasure hunts that have created clues to find a treasure – before writing the book?
I haven’t participated but I did watch an episode of Expedition Unknown about the Forrest Fenn treasure. Fascinating.
I love all treasure hunting shows. I currently watch the Curse of Oak Island, Deadman’s curse, Expedition unknown and Gold rush. That is just the current shows involving treasure that I watch. I am fascinated with the hunt for treasure but I have never participated in any actual known hunts. I am a treasure hunter but my hunts have been limited. I prospected for gold in Arizona and I searched beaches with a metal detector. I have found treasure doing both activities.
- 3Q) Please share how someone can get started on your hunt, and what all the treasure includes. Plus, although you mention a person could submit the correct solution to you to claim the treasure via email, if someone wants to go physically retrieve the treasure, would they be looking for a proxy item or the actual treasure? And is it buried or merely hidden well?
The most exciting part of treasure hunting with a metal detector is sifting the dirt out of the scoop and revealing a valuable find. I wouldn’t want to deprive my treasure hunters that excitement so I placed the cup (which will be the finder’s trophy), the silver coins and silver bars and the jewelry into a wooden box and buried the box. There are solid bars of pure silver and old silver coins in the treasure. The rings are some of my beach finds. It is not an extremely valuable treasure but it has some value and a nice trophy for your mantle.
You can purchase the book on Amazon. It holds the clues to find the treasure.
- 4Q) Your story includes some of the real-life history and mystery of Oak Island. From reading the book, it seems you have been following the current efforts of retrieving its believed buried treasure. What do you feel is buried in the Money Pit on Oak Island? Do you think the team of Oak Island will eventually find something spectacular?
I had a concept which differed from the common historical story and I wanted to share that idea. The best way was to write a novel. So that aspect of the Grail was the nucleus and I built the story around it. I love history but I don’t know enough to base an entire novel around it so I decided to make the setting in modern times. So I used the immortality associated with the Grail and took the story to Oak Island.
I believe that the treasure is (or was) on Oak Island and I am hoping that they will discover it someday. I don’t believe that it is in the money pit. I think the money pit is a red herring. If a group of engineers are brilliant enough to construct that elaborate entrance, how could they possibly be foolish enough to leave a block and tackle above the hidden spot which pretty much tells everyone to dig here. That doesn’t require genius, it is just common sense, remove the hoist before you leave. Unless your intent is to have anyone who might come looking to start digging in the wrong location. I think Samuel Ball, a poor individual who became very wealthy found it on his area of the island. I think he took the coins and the gold but had no use for the historical artifacts. If they discover the vault, I am hoping that might uncover some of history’s greatest lost treasures, to include the Holy Grail.
- 5Q) The Holy Grail is featured in your story, and while you tell a fictional tale, do you believe it is out there to find? What are your thoughts about the Knights Templar as its protector of it or other knowledge?
Yes, I do believe that a Grail does exist and I believe that it was buried on Oak Island by the Knights Templar.
- 6Q) Can you share more about how the 12 clues to the treasure work in your book? Are they to be understood without use of the story within the book, or are there other clues needed within the story, or the book in some other way, that help with understanding or discovering the correct interpretation for the hidden12 lines of the poem to the treasure?
The clues within the book are separate from the story. I wrote the complete story before I came up with the idea of my own treasure hunt. If I had thought of the hunt prior to writing the story I would have made the story itself the clues. But it was an afterthought and that is why the clues are randomly distributed. I could have just put the twelve clues at the end of the story but my goal wasn’t the treasure hunt. It was to have people read my story. The hunt is a bonus.
I wrote the clues separate and in 2 line stanzas. Of course to get started, you have to figure out which state has the treasure. The best way to get started is to write out the twelve clues in lines of two. Figure out the state and then go from there. The clues are not obvious or straight forward. It will take some deciphering and it won’t be easy. I didn’t want it to be found in an afternoon. It will take some serious thinking.
Take care, Charlie
